We were talking about Casey. He can sing, very talented. He actually won a state championship in singing a few years ago. He plays the piano. He's a supervisor. He's got a good steady job. And he's a prime, you know, prime candidate if any of you are looking. what else can I say nice about him? Let's open our Bibles this morning to the book of Proverbs chapter one. I told my Sunday school class I have never had it work out like it did this morning. Our Sunday school lesson had a lot of overlap to the message this morning. So some of you will, if you were in Sunday school, you will hear some of the same things again. And if you weren't, you should have been. uh... we'll leave it at that in fact last year in sunday school uh... we spent uh... couple of weeks looking at father from the book of proverbs i'm going to use the same title as we did in sunday school last year uh... but the message will be completely different uh... at least i hope and pray that it is proverbs chapter one verse eight my son hear the instruction of thy father and forsake not the law of thy mother. I understand that not all fathers are saved. Not all fathers attend church. Not all fathers strive to live a dedicated Christian life. Not all fathers are committed to raising up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Some fathers don't even claim to be religious of any kind. Some fathers may have been an alcoholic. Some fathers may have cheated on their wife. Some children, many children, grew up in a single-parent home because their father, for some reason or other, felt it necessary for their own lust, many times, to divorce their mother. In fact, I was just reading an article last week, and it gave a huge percentage of children today who are being raised in single-parent homes, and in most cases, the article said, it's the father who left, leaving the children to be raised by a single mom. Now, my father was far from perfect. You've heard me talk about him a number of times. My father made some mistakes in his life. He made some mistakes in raising my brother and I. I still think that I got spanked more than my brother did. I still think I got spanked for some things he did, but we'll argue about that later on sometime. But one thing, in spite of all of Dad's faults and failures, one thing he did make sure of is that we were always in church and the church was a priority of our life. Period. No exceptions. Dad was not ashamed for us to see him frequently reading his Bible, studying his Bible, and going through things and studying and studying. As I thought about Father's Day today, my heart goes out to those whose fathers were far less than desirable. I know that I was very blessed in having godly parents, but I also know that many people were not blessed like I was. As I preach, I can't change your past. I can't suddenly do abracadabra and erase all of the negative things your father did, your father said. I can't somehow go back and change the past. I can't change the way you were raised. But I hope that all of us, well, all of you whose parents are still living, I hope that all of you can at least pray Pray for your father. If he was an alcoholic, pray that God will save him. If he was an adulteress or adulterer, pray that God will save him. If he was a murderer, pray that God will save him. But then what I really want you to do is to strive to be the kind of father that your father wasn't. I know that many people, and I've dealt with many of them, their fathers beat them, their fathers cussed them out, their fathers did all kinds of things. But I want you to be better than that. So I've only got really two points. Very simple, very easy. I have two main points, most all from Solomon. I want to look at the kind of father that Solomon said we all should strive to be. In doing this, of necessity, I'm going to have to deal with the children a lot in the father-son relationship. Now, in thinking of Solomon, and the first point is fathers should be heard and obeyed, and I've got a bunch of scriptures for that one, But I don't want you to go out of here thinking that I say that you have to obey your father unconditionally 100% of the time, regardless of what he says or does. That's not what Solomon is teaching. He is not telling children to obey something that is unlawful, illegal, and immoral. He's not telling us to get drunk if our father commands us to get drunk. He's not commanding us to commit sin because our father tells us to. But assuming that you have at least a semi-Christian father, and your goal is to be a Christian son and someday a Christian father, I want you to listen to some scripture. Proverbs chapter 1, verse 8, our text. My son, hear the instruction of thy father. And then he goes on, forsake not the law of thy mother, but hear the instructions of thy father. If I had listened to my father better, I could have avoided a lot of pitfalls that I thought my dad was too dumb to know. And so I went out trying to prove my dad wrong, and I made some horrendous mistakes, and I wished I had listened a lot better. Proverbs 4.1, hear ye children the instruction of a father. Proverbs 6.20, my son, keep thy father's commandments. Proverbs 13.1, a wise son, heareth his father's instructions. Proverbs 23, hearken unto thy father that begot thee. So you see all through there, and then there's other instances as well. Solomon is saying, hey, you kids, listen to your father. Listen to him. You know, I can remember vaguely. And the older I get, the better I was growing up. I don't know if any of you think like that or not. You know, the older I get, the more I look back and I think, wow, I was a really good kid. But sometimes God reminds me of my past. And a lot of young people grow up thinking they know everything. They believe that their parents are just plain ignorant. Start to say, how many of you thought that of your parents? But I don't want you to raise your hand on that. My parents are so dumb, they don't know anything. In some ways, you may very well be right. I'm not as young as I was 30 years ago. I remember when i was in texas pastoring a church when the first computer came out at least the first one that week that our church was able to buy it took me even thirty years ago it took me a long time to figure out how to run DOS 3.1 some of you don't remember DOS this was way before windows was ever dreamed of everything ran off of DOS And I remember it's like, wow, I know how to do something. And it's like, man, it's a great, great event here. I learned how to operate a computer. But nowadays my grandkids go faster than I can even see what they're doing. And it's like here while back, I asked one of my grandsons, I said, Can you show me what you're doing? Sure, Grandpa. Forget it. Never mind. Just go on what you're doing. I can't get it. If you're thinking that your parents are ignorant because they don't get computers and whatever those iPads, iPods, iPhones, whatever those things are. Yeah, you're probably right. We are ignorant on those things. Children can learn how to, in fact, The joke is, if you want to know how to run your computer, call one of your grandkids. They can figure it out faster than anything you've ever dreamed of. They can run a computer a thousand times faster than many of us old people. How often have you heard an older person ask a child for something as simple as, how do you do this on my cell phone, or how do you operate the TV remote? Well, if you think we're ignorant, you're right. In technology, we may very well be ignorant of a lot of things. You may very well be much smarter than your father. But stop and think, your father didn't get to where he is without learning a few things along the way. Maybe he didn't know technology. Maybe he doesn't know, you know, iPads and I'm sure I'll get, I'm sure I'll be explained the difference when I get home. Maybe he can't play those games where, you know, you're twisting and turning and, and you're going here and there and you're shooting this. And, and I got, I get dizzy just watching them play. Maybe he is ignorant on those things, but he didn't get where he is without learning something along the way. He's learned a lot of things about living. He's learned a lot of things about making mistakes. He's learned a lot of ways how to avoid pitfalls. He has seen firsthand the end result of many mistakes that he made when he was much younger. And though you may think he's dumber than dirt, his goal as a godly father is to make sure you don't make those same mistakes. He has seen and experienced things that you could really learn from if you were willing to hear the instruction of thy father. You could avoid a lot of pitfalls if you would just understand your dad got to where he is age-wise by making some of the same mistakes and he doesn't want you to make those mistakes. He may not know how to play games other than checkers. but he has learned a lot of practical things that the only way you can, there's two ways you can learn them. You can learn them by listening or you can learn them by experience. And you know, one of the things that we've all heard, we've all read about, and I think most of us who are older would agree that somewhere along the way, That ignorant, dumb father I had suddenly became very smart as I got older. Especially when I had kids, I learned a lot of things about why dad did certain things. Young people remember one of these days, one of these days you're going to look back and say, I don't know what happened, but dad suddenly got very intelligent and very smart somewhere back along the way. You can even learn from his discipline. Proverbs 3 says, For whom the Lord loveth, he correcteth, even a father the son in whom he delighteth. I'm talking about godly parents. I'm not talking about an alcoholic who comes home drunk and beats the first person he sees when he comes through the door. I'm not talking about that. But I'm talking about a godly father who disciplines his children because he loves them and he's trying to keep them from getting into things that he knows can harm them and even kill them if they don't change. i used the example in sunday school now when i was growing up we didn't have electrical plugs on every wall we only had one or two electric plugs in the whole house some of you remember that uh... some of you know that So we didn't have to spend a lot of time worrying about don't stick forks in the plugs and don't stick knives in the plugs. We didn't have that problem because we didn't have plugs to begin with. But now when I tell one of my grandkids, especially the younger ones, don't stick stuff in the electric plug. Why do I do that? And if they do, they get not a hard swat, but they get a little swat to let them know that is not acceptable behavior. Why does a godly parent do that? Because he knows the danger of playing with electricity. Don't go a hundred miles an hour down Richardson Road. Those of you that are driven Richardson Road, don't do it. I can do it. No, you can't. It cannot be done. Well, dad just trying to keep me from having fun. No, dad is trying to keep you from being killed on that windy, curvy, bending road. Well, my dad won't let me do this and this. It very well may be that your dad knows something you don't know and you need to listen to his advice. You need to heed his advice. You need to pay attention to his advice because he's learned some things over the years that he's trying to keep you from being harmed or killed. The Lord chastens those he loves. And a godly father chastens his children because he loves them. My parents were not perfect. And when it came to discipline, sometimes, this is my opinion, they got a little carried away, especially dad. But mom was pretty good too. Did I get some spankings I don't think I really deserved? Maybe, maybe. Did I get spankings that were more than the offense that I committed? Yeah, probably. I remember the last spanking I got that I remember, I was about 16 years old. And I thought I was a man and my dad told me to do something and I looked at him and said, no, I'm 16, got my driver's license. And I looked at dad and said, no. I found out you don't tell my dad, no. When I came to, no, I'm kidding. I did get probably the worst beating of my life. Did dad get a little carried away? Yeah, maybe he would be in jail today, without any doubt. But he did teach me, you don't tell your father, no, I don't care if you're 16, I don't care if you're 20, you will respect me, you will treat me like your dad. And I don't care if you're 21, I can still take you down and he could. right up until Alzheimer's pretty much disabled him. Did my dad get overboard in spanking? In that particular case, yeah, I made him pretty mad. I did. I made him downright mad. So yeah, he wasn't perfect. He overdid the spanking. He overdid it a little bit, but then on the other hand, I caused it because I was dumb enough to look at my dad and say, no, 16 years old. You don't do that, kids. You don't do that. I still, up to the day he died, I still would never again say no. He taught me a lesson that I never, ever, ever forgot. My dad beats me. Well, define beating. Most kids today, if they have godly Christian parents, they don't know what a beating is. We talk about child abuse. When I was working with the police and when I was working with the hospital, I saw actual, genuine child abuse. But I don't think I've ever seen that in a godly Christian home. where the father was trying to teach you something that you're gonna need to know down the road in order to save yourself a lot of trouble. But even then, when my dad really, really, really got angry that time, he disciplined me because he wanted me to learn respect. Did he get carried away? Oh, yeah. parent cannot let you do everything you want. He has learned by experience that some of the things you want to do will lead to a lot of trouble later on down the road. And he's trying to spare you a lot of grief. Now, being a father has a lot of joy and privileges. John said in 3 John verse 4, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. As John wrote to the 3rd epistle of John, he was talking to his spiritual children, and he said, as a spiritual father, nothing makes me happier than to see my children walk in truth. Proverbs 10, 1, A wise son maketh a glad father. Proverbs 23, The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice, and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him. Proverbs 29, Whoso loveth wisdom rejoiceth his father." I am very proud of my three children. Are they perfect? No, they had a sinful mother, so they got a little bit of the, you know, depravity that my wife had. Yeah, some of you that know my wife thinking, uh-huh, it's the other way around, right? I know. I'm very proud of my children. I'm very proud of their spouses. God blessed us with three wonderful children and three wonderful spouses and seven of the greatest grandkids on the face of the earth. I rejoice to see that God has blessed them with good families, good jobs, nice houses, God has blessed them, and I'm glad of that. I'm glad that my kids all have been blessed of God. Now, when I was making introductions, I missed a lady right over here, because that's where Heidi usually sits, and I mixed her up with Heidi. She recently had to meet my son, in a good way. He didn't shoot her. He didn't arrest her. He didn't do any of those things. But she will be working at the ARC in dispatch, I believe. Working at the ARC in dispatch. And my son was one of the ones that interviewed her. You know what? I'm proud of him. I really am very proud of him. And he hired you anyway, so that must be a good thing. I'm very proud of him. I'm proud of my other son. Now, every time I see Air Care fly over, I check to see if my son's working today, if that's him up there in the helicopter somewhere. I'm very proud of what he is. I'm proud of each of their wives. I'm proud of my daughter, her husband. He's a funeral director. What can I say? No, I love him and appreciate him as much as anything. I'm glad that he's out. I'm glad my son-in-law's finally out of college. You know how long it takes to become a funeral director? And then he went back for another three years, I believe, to be an embalmer. Seven years to bury people in the ground. I'm glad he's out. I really am. i got tired of being his uh... patsy when he i i i need to draw one here on the you know uh... i'm i'm very proud of me if he is a funeral director i don't care if they live in a mansion i don't care if they become president and c e o of a major corporation but if they don't serve god i failed as a parent. Oh, you gave them a good education. I'm thankful. All three of mine graduated with a degree. My boys got a couple of degrees. I'm glad that they got an education. My daughter runs a business out of their home. I'm very proud of that. I'm proud of what they do. But if they were not serving God, I would look in the mirror and think, I failed. You see, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. Hearing that they got a promotion, great. I rejoice in that. Hearing that they got a better job, I rejoice in that. But if all of that happened and they did not serve God, I as a father would wonder and question, where did I fail? What did I do wrong? Now I know somebody will probably tell me afterwards, it doesn't mean you did anything wrong. Well, I hope that growing up, they saw a godly example. I hope that growing up, They saw a father who read the Bible, believes the Bible to be the absolute, inerrant, infallible Word of God. I hope that they knew that God came first in our life. I hope that they understood that, you know, as much as I love you, I discipline you. As wonderful as it is to see God bless, The greatest joy was the day that they were saved. The privilege of baptizing them and seeing all three of them active in church, in a local church, knowing that they're all faithful in church, they're active in church, as a father is the greatest joy that I can think of. I'm thankful that God has blessed them with my intelligence. Some of you didn't get that. I'm very thankful that God blessed them with my personality and my charm and my wit. But to see them serve God is better than anything I can think of on this earth. There is nothing that they could do that would make me more proud and more happy and seeing all three of them in church serving God, to see them bringing their children to church. Recently, many of you remember, I had the privilege of baptizing one of my older grandkids. What a thrill that was. What a joy that was to know that I as a father had raised my children. God saved them by his grace. Now to see my grandchildren being saved and baptized. Folks, there's nothing on earth that's any better as a father than seeing and knowing that your children are serving God. The greatest thrill on earth. Now, if you're here today and you're lost, and this will be probably one of my shortest sermons ever. Don't get your hopes up every service. I was very blessed with a saved father and a saved mother. But I understand not everybody had that opportunity. There are fathers who were far less than desirable. So I want to talk to you just for a minute, you fathers, and of course this applies to everybody, but today is Father's Day. You can have the greatest kids on earth. Your kids can be saved. Your kids can be in church. Your kids can be serving God. But if you're not saved, you will spend eternity away from your children, away from God, away from God's fellowship. Your children may be the most outstanding Christian children in the world, but if you die lost, you will spend eternity in hell in total absence of God, God's love, God's grace, God's mercy. Your children may be honest, good moral people. You may be a good, honest, moral father. And by the way, I said I could apply this to mothers, children, anybody that's lost today. You can be the ideal child. But if you die lost, God's not going to look and say, oh, you were such a wonderful child. Come on in. Now, whether you're a father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, God's going to look at one thing and one thing only. Did you ever repent of your sins? Did you ever put your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ? If you've never did that, it doesn't matter anything else that you may do. If you've never repented of your sins, never trusted Jesus Christ, it won't matter when you die. what kind of person you were. I encourage you. I challenge you. Fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, yes, we celebrate Father's Day and I'm thankful for my father, the lessons he taught me. But if you're not saved, I can't even begin to describe the horrors of hell. What must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. and lord we certainly want to honor all of the men who are faithful christians men men who put you first men who serve you men who leave their home in the way that it ought to go we thank you for these men and we pray lord for perhaps many many not only here in the auditorium, but as we go out across the airwaves, children who never had the privilege of a godly Christian father. May you help them to overcome their past and to be the kind of father that you would have them to be. We pray for each and every one, man, woman, male, female, we pray for each and everyone today that's lost may it please you even today to send forth thy holy spirit to crush their heart to grant unto them repentance and faith may you save them today by your marvelous grace and may they come publicly professing what you have done and may we all give honor and praise to you in Jesus name Amen.